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19 Liquor Licenses Extended to 2 A.M.

A total of 19 establishments applied for and were granted new, rolled forward liquor licenses last week – licenses that will once again allow them to stay open until 2 a.m.

Out of more than 45 pouring establishments in the city, fewer than 50 percent applied for the once-controversial licenses – which were rolled back to 1 a.m. in 2008 – and all were granted the new licenses after some questioning from the License Commission at its Aug. 14th meeting.

The Commission had held a public hearing on July 10th in which they voted 2-0 to roll the closing time forward once again. Member Linda Guinasso did not cast a vote.

“After we approved the move to 2 a.m., what the establishments had to do was to apply for the 2 a.m.,” said Chair Joe Quarantello. “Not all of the establishments elected to apply. I think there are 45-plus establishments that were eligible and only 19 applied for the 2 a.m. I was not surprised by the numbers. I anticipated about 30 percent of the establishments would apply. I didn’t think it would get up to 50 percent. I just could not see every establishment applying.”

Quarantello said the Commission had agreed to question each establishment about their history as a business and about the safety plan they would integrate inside the establishment and outside in the parking lot. He said each applicant was warned that there would be strict enforcement.

“We were very clear about what would happen,” said Quarantello. “We changed it to help the businesses, but we were very clear that we were not going to tolerate any bad behavior and if we had to roll back hours as discipline, we would do that.”

Police Chief Joe Cafarelli indicated that his officers would patrol the establishments with the later closing, monitoring how they conduct their businesses and whether they close on time.

There were some notable absences from the list of applicants, such as Volare on Broadway and Ristorante Ravesi on Revere Street. Many believed those establishments would apply, but they did not in the end.

Those applying for the extended license were:

•Atlantic Lounge

•BK’s Bar & Grill

•Bill Ash’s Lounge

•Boulevard Bar & Grill

•The Cove

•Full Rack Smoke House

•Luigi’s Pizza

•Mirage Restaurant

•Renzo’s Brick Oven Pizzeria

•Revere Loyal Order of Moose #1272

•Revere Lodge #1171 of B.P.O.E. of USA

•Sammy’s Patio

•The Shipwreck Lounge

•The Squire

•Wonderland Ballroom

•Speakeasy

•Antonia’s at the Beach

•Casa Lucia

•Pancho Villa Mexican Restaurant

The new license took effect immediately.

“I believe the city is in a different place and I hope it work out for them from a revenue perspective,” said Quarantello. “I hope we don’t have to deal with disciplinary issues. My feeling from the beginning is that nobody wants to be broad brushed into a position where they’re being penalized for problems others caused.”

Italod

Good-ol’ Revere–will never change. Wow, this sounds like a really sound, safe and smart idea. Funny how this gets pushed through, yet it still takes the city decades–literally, decades–to get things moving on vacant lots, properties and buildings that don’t get renovated at all. Of if they are, since it’s Revere, 9 out of 10 times all they become and that we get to have are new gas stations, manicure nail shops, dollar stores, or 24/7 sub shops. Classic Revere mentality.

JC

I love how this is perfectly fine, but the thought of a marijuana dispensary in Revere is ridiculous to most people. Please find me ANY statistic that shows that marijuana causes more deaths, destruction, and disruption in quality of life than alcohol. Alcohol is poison, people – it literally debilitates you the more you consume, while marijuana has many proven medical benefits, particularly to those suffering from terminal illnesses. Has anyone met a doctor who prescribed alcohol at the end of life? So, not only is Revere losing out on the money that could be made from a marijuana dispensary, it is showing an intense lack of compassion for those who are suffering while totally condoning an increase in alcohol consumption. Typical Revere.

JC

Totally agree with you on this – Revere is essentially the land of lost opportunities. With its proximity to Boston, the airport, and the ocean, Revere has way more potential than surrounding towns that have done a lot more to develop businesses that actually attract outsiders. Rather than, as you said, the nail/hair/tanning parlors that line the streets of Revere. It’s pretty sad.

drensber

Revere is basically a insular middle-American city that happens to share a border with Boston and have shoreline on the Atlantic Ocean. How that can possibly happen is beyond me. I recently had an email exchange with the Mayor about this and my feelings about how this is the main reason that people prefer places like Cambridge and Somerville to Revere. His answer, was basically “That’s how we are. If you don’t like it, move to Cambridge”. Too bad that wasn’t so clear to me about 5 years ago. I could have made as much money on a condo in Cambridge as I lost on one in Revere. This will eventually change when the crusty insular old folks that run everything here start to die, but it will take a while.